Dexter Palmer v. Cecelia Reynolds , 691 F. App'x 125 ( 2017 )

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 16-7471
DEXTER PALMER,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v.
CECELIA REYNOLDS, Warden at Lee Correctional Institution,
Respondent - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at
Anderson. Margaret B. Seymour, Senior District Judge. (8:15-cv-02571-MBS)
Submitted: May 18, 2017 Decided: June 5, 2017
Before WILKINSON, TRAXLER, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Dexter Palmer, Appellant Pro Se. Donald John Zelenka, Deputy Attorney General,
Alphonso Simon, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Dexter Palmer seeks to appeal the district court’s order accepting the
recommendation of the magistrate judge and denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2012)
petition. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of
appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A) (2012). A certificate of appealability will not
issue absent “a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.” 28 U.S.C.
§ 2253(c)(2) (2012). When the district court denies relief on the merits, a prisoner satisfies
this standard by demonstrating that reasonable jurists would find that the district court’s
assessment of the constitutional claims is debatable or wrong. Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S.
473, 484 (2000); see Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336-38 (2003). When the district
court denies relief on procedural grounds, the prisoner must demonstrate both that the
dispositive procedural ruling is debatable, and that the petition states a debatable claim of
the denial of a constitutional right. Slack, 529 U.S. at 484-85.
We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Palmer has not made
the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the
appeal. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are
adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the
decisional process.
DISMISSED
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